Menasha women fined big bucks for deer theft

Hunter retrieves rack after 2 months under water

Jan. 24, 2013

Kelly Sokel shows off the 19 1/2 inch rack from his stolen deer Wednesday at his home in Menasha. Sokel killed the deer Nov. 21, 2012 in Appleton. It was an 8-point buck that was 175 pounds field dressed. It was stolen out of the back of his truck while he celebrated his trophy deer at Hank's Tavern. / Dan Powers/The Post-Crescent

More

ADVERTISEMENT

MENASHA — After Menasha resident Kelly Sokel shot the biggest buck of his life Nov. 21, he did what many Wisconsin hunters do to celebrate — he stopped at the local tavern and left his truck’s tailgate open to show off the trophy.

What followed was one of the most bizarre capers the state Department of Natural Resources had ever dealt with, said Appleton-based warden Ryan Propson.

“Somebody at the bar told me my deer was gone, and I thought he was joking,” Sokel said about that night at Hank’s Tavern. “My heart dropped when I went to look and sure enough.”

He called the Menasha Police Department, which referred him to the DNR. That’s when Propson got involved and helped crack the case. Apparently, Facebook was abuzz with details of the escapade.

Turns out, while Sokel sat in the bar, two Menasha women, Cristi Sturgis, 35, and Stacy Gengler, 35, decided to get back at the man after an argument inside the bar.

They dragged the 175-pound, 19 1/2-inch spread buck out of Sokel’s white F-150 pickup into the parking lot, got into their car and decided to run over the 8-pointer to break off its antlers, Propson said.

“And that’s where it went awry,” Propson said. “The deer got caught underneath the car, half the rack broke and they drove down the road dragging it until they realized something wasn’t right.”

The women eventually stopped the Cadillac and called a friend, Matthew Long, 27, of Menasha to help them decide what to do next.

“They came to the collective decision to get the deer out from under the car, drag it to the Fox River in Jefferson Park and toss it in,” Propson said.

After a week of interviews, Propson issued citations to the trio. All three pled guilty/no contest in Winnebago County court this month.

Sturgis and Gengler were fined $2,152.50 for “larceny of wild game.” Long received a $263.50 ticket for dumping the deer in public property.

When Sokel heard his deer was at the bottom of the river, he set out with his 12-year-old son to get it back. He poked the river bottom with a pool skimmer, but came up empty.

(Page 2 of 2)

All he had left was half the rack of the big buck.

Last week, after nearly two months under water, the partially decomposed deer washed up on some rocks near the railway bridge, a mile from where it was dumped. A train conductor who had read about the incident in a sports column at WisconsinOutdoorFun.com saw the deer from his train engine and called the DNR.

“It was not very pretty, I’ll tell you that,” Sokel said. “After being in the river for two months, it was pretty heavy. We tried to drag it up an embankment and finally got the horns off.”

He’s happy to have the trophy buck back, but is still upset about losing out on the venison that would have been part of the bag.

Sokel thinks the pranksters got what they deserved.

“It’s a fair punishment, but there’s nothing in it for me,” Sokel said. “I woke up the day after the incident very disappointed because we were all looking forward to sharing the meat from the first deer of the year.”

Long declined comment when contacted by a reporter. Efforts to reach Gengler and Sturgis were unsuccessful.

For Propson, the incident seemed too unbelievable to be true. The DNR has issued just five other tickets since 2008 for animal theft.

“It seemed way too far-fetched,” Propson said. “But after a while all the puzzle pieces came together and unfortunately the hunter will be out the meat.”

Finally reunited with his rack this week in Menasha, Sokel left the two sides on an outdoor patio to air out. He left for work one day and returned to findhalf of the rack missing once again.

“This time it was just the neighbor’s dog that got a hold of it,” Sokel said. “We got it back and hopefully I’ll get it mounted on the wall soon.”